Read, Listen and Watch!

Menu

Enrile for President!

Thank you, Senator Juan Ponce Enrile. If not for your tantrums after your pre-paid load suddenly disappeared the National Telecommunications Commission will not even lift a finger to act in favor of text-crazed Filipinos.

I think we should start texting each other and campaign for Enrile’s nomination for president.

The NTC, according to Commissioner Ruel Canobas, is set to sign today (Friday) the new rules on extension of prepaid load.

“At 10 a.m. Friday, we will sign the memorandum circular [MC] on prepaid-load guidelines. The signing of the three other draft MCs that we are working on will be deferred pending the submission of position papers by the telcos on Monday,” said Canobas.

The new memorandum said the validity of a P10-or-less load credit is valid for up to three days; up to seven days for P10-20 load; up to 10 days for P20-30 load; up to 14 days for P30-40 load; up to 17 days for P40-P50 load; 20 days for P50-60 load; up to 24 days for P60-70 load; up to 21 days for P70-80 load; up to 30 days for P80-90 load; up to 45 days for P100-150 load; up to 60 days for P150-200 load; up to 90 days for P200-300 load; up to 150 days for P300-600 load; and up to 180 days for P600 to P1,000 load.

Smart, Globe, Sun, and other mobile-phone operators shall provide their subscribers call-data records upon request free of charge. Balance-inquiry service through text messages is definitely free of charge.

“Pursuant to Republic Act 7925, Executive Order 546 series of 1979, and in order to protect and promote the interest of subscribers/end-users of prepaid services, the NTC promulgates the following guidelines,” the memo said.

Enrile called the telcos in a marathon hearing to inquire on the “vanishing load” on his mobile phone.

Another pro-consumer circulars are up for approval by the NTC, added Canobas, who could well be Enrile’s tandem as vice presidential candidate.

The three proposed changes involve the shift of the unit of billing for cellular calls from per-minute to three-second per pulse, grouping of bucket pricing promotions and prohibiting spam messages. -30-